


Because the Goggles Deserve a Backstory

by supahnova



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Bullying, Fluff, High School, M/M, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Preseries, agnst, ark, jasper just gets hurt a lot, sorry jasper, the goggles needed a backstory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-13
Updated: 2015-05-13
Packaged: 2018-03-30 07:54:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3928924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supahnova/pseuds/supahnova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper partially loses his eyesight due to oxygen depravation. Cue Monty being a sweet cinammon roll, too precious for this world. </p><p>I will be editing this work a lot so if you come back in a week it will probably have changed for the better</p><p>Tumblr at so-lets-be-criminals</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Second fic! Comment and tell me stuff.

Monty knew Jasper well enough to know something was off. Jasper didn't blink repeatedly every five seconds, or screw up his eyes and scrub them red with his fists. And as reckless and clumsy as he was, he definitely didn't walk straight into walls.  
"Ow! God damn it!" Jasper massaged his head, his elbow nearly hitting Monty in the face.  
"Jas- you OK?"  
"Yeah, fine. Don't worry about me, what were you saying?"  
"Well, as I was saying, if the molarity isn't exact, then the concentration of the product will decrease by- shit. Red alert." The group of boys that Jasper and Monty had not-so-accidentally set on fire during chemistry class were heading straight for them. It wasn't even a big deal. It would have been fine if the idiots hadn't used the wrong beaker of liquid in an attempt to put out the small, sparking piece of metal skittering across their table. Luckily, they seemed too wrapped up in their own conversation to notice the class nerds, their laughter echoing metallically in the boxy hallway. "Come on, this way." Monty tugged at Jasper's jacket sleeve, nodding to a small passage leading away from the center hallway. Jasper didn't move, his head whipping from side to side.  
"Monty? Wha- where did the lights go? I can't- I can't see!" Jasper's voice came out high and panicky.  
"Jasper! Come on, we have too get out of here!" Monty hissed, grabbing his friend by the arm and glancing behind him to check if the boys had noticed them, his eyes instead finding Jasper's. Jasper's face was filled with terror, his skin pale and his eyes unfocused, blinking and darting side to side without seeing.  
"Monty! Monty, what's going on?" The tall, gangly boy twisted away, tripping over his own feet in the process and stumbling into a wall.  
With dread filling his gut, Monty saw, as if in slow motion, one of the boys look up, a smirk dancing across his lips as his eyes moved first to Monty, and then to Jasper, a shaking mess leaning against the metal wall, his head jerking from side to side, his hands scrambling across the smooth, metal wall.  
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" One of the boys- Rodney or Rodger or something- said smoothly, strolling over with his hands in his pant pockets like he had all the time in the world. Jasper stopped moving, his eyes darting side to side, like- what was that old earth saying?- like a deer caught in the headlights. Someone roughly grabbed Monty by the shoulder, holding him back as the first boy- Richard it is- strolled up to Jasper.  
"What's the matter? Can't see?" Rodney taunted, poking Jasper in the chest. Monty growled, launching himself forward, only to be pushed back by the other two goons, leaving Jasper alone to be tormented by their ringleader. Jasper threw a sloppy punch into the air, stumbling forward. Richard chuckled, grabbing Jasper by his jacket sleeve and kicking him to his knees.  
"I mean-" Richard said conversationally, pausing to kick Jasper to the ground, ignoring Monty's yells and Jasper's choked cries. A grubby hand covered Monty's mouth. "I always knew it would be easy, once you didn't have your chemistry kits to save you-" Another hit. Jasper curled protectively in on himself, tears streaming down his face. "But now this useless fucking moron can't even see?!" He laughed, grabbing Jasper by the hair and forcing him up to his knees. "That just takes the goddamn cake." He struck Jasper's face, the scrawny teen crumbling like a paper cup to the ground.  
"Monty?" Jasper called out in a hoarse, broken voice.  
Staring right into Monty's eyes, Richard laughed. "Monty? Monty doesn't care about you. He's long gone."  
Jasper's unseeing eyes widened in shock, all his fight leaving him.  
Monty's eyes widened. He struggled, trying to yell out, to say something, anything. But all he could do was watch as Jasper's eyes dulled into unconsciousness.  
"Come on, let's get out of here," Roger commanded, and Monty was let go of and roughly pushed into a wall. The three boys left, their laughter once again filling the tinny corridor. Monty rushed to Jasper's side. "Jas? Jas, please be OK, please be OK, it's going to be OK..."  
Monty held Jasper in his arms, mumbling in his ear, deaf to all around him. A group of citizens crowded around them, a nurse was called, Jasper was pried away.


	2. Sorry I hurt you Jasper

The first thing Jasper was aware of when he woke up was a throbbing pain in his side. The second, the steady beeping of machines and the him and bustle of nurses and patients around him. The third-  
Monty.  
"Jasper!" His best friend rushed to his side. "Can you- can you see?"  
Jasper blinked, unable to see anything but a blur.  
"Monty."  
"Move aside, please, the sooner I check him the sooner I can move on," a nurse said with a businesslike tone, waving Monty away and snapping an oxygen mask off from Jasper's mouth. Monty moved out of the nurse's path, but remained by Jasper's side, grabbing his hand reassuringly. The next hour passed in a dazed blur. Lights shone in his eyes, blurred lettered papers were shoved at his face, until finally the nurse let him rest. Monty explained to him in frantic, scrambled words what had happened. Finally, the click of heels against the floor signaled the arrival of the doctor. "Hello, Mr. Jordan, I am Dr. Griffen. I am happy to tell you your eyesight will remain intact. You have been suffering from oxygen depravation, quite common here, and I'm afraid your nearsighted vision has been greatly damaged, but you are one of the lucky ones."  
"My- my nearsighted vision? But- I can get glasses, can't I?"   
The doctor looked at him pityingly. "I'm afraid glass is in short supply as it is. You will be fine-"  
"No. No, you don't understand, I'm going to be a chemist- I- I need to-" Jasper struggled to get up, kicking his hospital bed sheets away. The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down.  
"I'm sorry," the doctor said gently.  
"There's got to be some way-" Monty protested, but the doctor was already gone. Jasper let himself fall back, his face expressionless. Monty squeezed his hand.  
"Hey. We'll find a way. We always do."


	3. Sorry I hurt you again Jasper it will be all better now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Should I write more?

"Come on, you said the price was three days of rations. We had a deal!" Monty glared at the older man, tempted to grab the pair of thick spectacles lying in his wrinkled hand and run.  
"Well, I got a better offer. Your deal just expired. Anyways, kid, you possessing these glasses- that's illegal. I don't think you know what you're getting into."   
"Fine." Monty breathed heavily through his nose. "Three days of rations... And a full set of computer wiring."  
The man narrowed his eyes. "You're lucky I've got a buyer for that sort of thing, son. I want it here, nineteen hundred tomorrow. You got that, boy?"  
Monty nodded, grabbing the glasses, a grin stretching across his face. "Deal."

Monty couldn't contain his excitement, sprinting all the way back to his family's compartment. He rushed into his room, pushing his desk up against the door and grabbing a rag twisted around his prized possessions- his set of tools. A pair of rusting children's scissors, a couple small screwdrivers, a wire clipper he had stolen from school, and a thin, high-tech soldering pen. Jasper had exchanged a week of rations and who knows what else to get it for Monty for his birthday. Sending his tools clattering onto his desk, Monty set to work carefully pulling the lenses from the wire frame. They easily popped out into Monty's hand, leaving the metal frame to be discarded into a bursting cardboard box of scraps. Satisfied with his work, Monty slowly pulled his bottom desk drawer open and pulled out a lumpy package, carefully wrapped in a clean cloth. He gently unfolded the soft cloth to reveal a pair of flawless, unscratched ski goggles. A rarity. They had been a present from Monty's mother before her death, given to him with his first screwdriver. Not even Jasper knew he owned them. Well, not yet. Monty slowly set the lenses inside the goggles, making sure not to damage the glass. Taking a deep breath, he switched on the soldering pen and began carefully melting the edges of the glasses together, his hand shaking with effort. Jasper often teased him about his perfectionist tendencies, but today he was glad for them. Finally satisfied, Monty carefully turned over the goggles. "It worked," he breathed out loud, admiring how he reflective glass of the goggles hid their true function. He grinned. Everything was going to be OK.

"Hey- Jas! Jasper!"   
Jasper looked up from the paper in his hand, searching for the face of the person calling him. Not that he didn't know who it was. Who else would visit him in the hospital at six in the morning? He crumpled up the price of paper, attempting to rearrange his face into something that resembled a smile, swinging his legs out of the hospital bed. Monty noticed, of course. Monty was the only person who ever could- who ever did- notice.  
"Jas...it's going to be OK," Monty said softly, a small smile on his lips. 

He may have been the only one to ever notice Jasper, but even he couldn't understand. Jasper turned away. "It's going to be OK" was not what he wanted to hear. It was a lie. Jasper couldn't hold his emotions bottled up inside him. Jasper stood up, a red flash of rage clouding his vision.   
"It isn't OK! I thought you, of all people, would understand that! You know how long I've wanted this? And it's over now!" His voice broke. "I- I can't do anything." His hand opened up, showing Monty the piece of paper he had been staring at- a sheet of letters it was impossible for him to read.  
To his surprise, Monty's grin just widened.   
"What?"  
"Just- just close your eyes, OK?"   
Jasper raised his eyebrows at Monty, staring skeptically at him.  
"I'm serious!"  
Sighing, Jasper closed his eyes. There was a pause. "You're too tall, sit down."  
Jasper chuckled despite himself, and obligatorily sat down on the bed. He felt something stiff press down on his face, a band tightening around his head. He opened his eyes, confused. "Monty?"  
He blinked, his mouth falling open. "Monty..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Jasper life just sucks for you bro

3 months later

"Don't be nervous. You got this! Now go and kick some ass." Monty slapped Jasper on the back. It was the day of the Advanced Chemistry Tests- a day Jasper had been preparing for, well. Forever. Acing the test meant an automatic, guaranteed career path leading straight to the Level 5 Chem Labs. And Jasper was destined to be there.  
"Don't forget your, uh, lucky goggles," Monty said with a grin.  
"How could I forget," Jasper replied, his voice laced with friendly sarcasm. He grabbed the goggles from Monty's hands and looped them around his neck, winking. He was alive with energy, his fingers drumming against his legs and his feet bouncing slightly. Jasper had two settings: 0% and 100%. Like that saying from that old earth film- "Do or do not. There is no try." Jasper, quite literally, did or did not. Despite Monty's confident manner, he was terrified for Jasper. The sciences were the only things that Jasper could truly understand, the only things that interested him. Everything else was a distraction to him. Pointless. Unfortunately, that meant that if Jasper didn't get a top score on the test, his career options would be very...nonexistent. Not that Jasper wouldn't pass the test. Of course Jasper would pass the test. That was Jasper's way, after all- dodging bullets, making it by the skin of his teeth, recklessly plunging across the abyss and somehow making it safely to the other side. He always found a way. And if he didn't, then Monty did.  
"I'll see you later, tell you how it went." Jasper turned, about to leave. "Oh, and Monty, you know I couldn't have done this without you, right?" A passing comment to anyone walking by. Jasper tugged on the goggles slightly, a nod of understanding passing between the two. 

Of course Jasper passed. Monty never should have even bothered to worry.

5 Months Later

"Monty Green and Jasper Jordan, you are under arrest for the unlawful use of substances stolen from Agro Section. Please present your badges for age and identity verification now."  
Monty was frozen still, unable to move or think, his face expressionless as his hands were pulled behind his back. Jasper, however, was twisting and gasping like a fish out of water, barely restrained by one disgruntled looking guard.  
"You can't arrest Monty, please, it was all me, I swear it was all me," Jasper rambled in a shaky, stuttering voice. It was this that stirred Monty out of his trance.  
"Shut up Jordan. Just shut. Up."  
Monty cooperated with the guards calmly, as if in a dream. He barely noticed his surroundings, stiffly walking into his cell in the skybox without a word. Jasper was different, though. Jasper wasn't made to be handled and contained. He struggled furiously the entire way, crying out and letting out small sobs, practically being dragged by two guards to the skybox. He was forcibly thrown into his cell, hitting the wall and crumbling into a heap on the floor. Monty thanked whatever gods there were for one small mercy- he and Jasper were separated by a thick window, not a wall. Monty was about to tap against the glass, when he noticed the guards had not left. One of them, the one with a red mark below his eye where Jasper's elbow had caught him, stalked over to the unmoving body on the floor and quickly shoved his electrically charged rod into Jasper's stomach. Even through the thick glass, Monty could hear Jasper's muffled screams. He desperately pounded on the glass, yelling Jasper's name, helpless as he watched his friend convulsing in pain. Satisfied, the guard pulled away and exited the cell, the door sliding shut after him. Jasper was left shaking on the floor, his forehead beaded with sweat. He slowly reached to his jacket pocket with a trembling hand, pulling out his goggles and placing them around his neck. Rubbing the side of the goggles with his thumb, Jasper's breathing began to slow. He couldn't get up, couldn't bring himself to look up at Monty.

Because Monty was not allowed to die.  
So they wouldn't.


	5. Chapter 5

They were barely there for a week before they were pulled out if their cells.   
"Whoa there, um, we're not eighteen yet, sir-" Jasper said with a nervous laugh, hastily stowing away his goggles in his jacket pocket.   
"You two are going to earth, orders of Chancellor Jaha himself," the guard replied, suddenly snapping a device around Jasper's wrist.   
"Ow!" Jasper massaged his wrist, throwing Monty a confused look.   
"Earth? We aren't eighteen yet, you can't kill us! Didn't you hear him?" Monty demanded, looking more outraged than scared.   
"You aren't being killed. You're being given a chance to survive," the guard said in a serious tone. Monty couldn't help but laugh out loud.  
"Sure, whatever makes you feel better," he said sarcastically, instantly regretting his words as he saw Jasper's fear written across his face. There was no time to rectify his mistake, though; A needle sunk into his neck, and Monty slipped into darkness.

When Monty next awoke, he was strapped into a seat in an unfamiliar room. No, not room. Dropship. Next to him, Jasper groaned and blinked blerily, mirroring the many awakening delinquents around the ship. Jasper suddenly tensed up, grasping the straps holding him back and looking around wildly as he realized what was going on.   
"Fuck. Oh my god, they're actually...we're going to die!" Jasper panicked.   
Monty attempted to calm his best friend, reaching out to grab Jasper's hand reassuringly.  
"Hey. I'm here." That was lame, but what else could he say?  
Jasper turned to him, eyes wide. "Are we going to die, Monty?"  
Monty could have answered honestly. Yes. We are going to die. We are plumenting down to a radiation-soaked planet with good plan to survive.

But he didn't.

"I don't know, Jasper. But..." He tried to muster up some excitement. "We're going to EARTH, Jasper. We're going home."  
Jasper just stared at Monty, a smile tugging at his lips. "Do you think there will be flowers there?"  
"Yeah, Jasper. Tulips and daffidils and daisies..."  
"And trees. Oak, maple, redwood, sequoia..."  
"Maybe you have learned something, hanging around agro station with me so much."  
Jasper laughed a little.   
"And maybe we'll see a waterfall! And clouds, and mountain ranges, and rivers-"  
"I've always wanted to see a river."  
'Yeah, me too."  
Their fear was forgotten, a new feeling blooming like a bud in the springtime- Hope.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Murphy's still season 1-level evil, but he also gets bored and helps hopeless needs find stupid goggles sometimes.

Everything was fine, until Jasper got speared. 

So basically, everything was fine for like, 3 hours. 

Well, actually, it hadn't been fine. Because Jasper hadn't seen a girl in about two months, and, well, he really, really liked girls. While Monty, unfortunately, just really, really, liked Jasper. So there was that. 

As soon as Jasper was flung back like a ragdoll by the spear impaling his body, Monty felt himself breaking. It was like his body was falling apart from the inside out, gears jamming and sparking, springs sticking, machinery collapsing in on itself. He wanted to plunge into the river, fight his way through the current, anything to be by Jasper's side. Or, at least, to die trying. 

Because what was the point of living without Jasper?

But he didn't. And he hated himself for that. But the real blow came when the rescue party was sent out. Without him. How was it even their business? They didn't even know Jasper. They had no right to be acting like they were upset. They didn't know his smile, the way his eyes could show a whole world of emotion, the way he walked with his feet pointing out, so he always seemed a little awkward and clumsy, too big for his body. They didn't know how to calm him down when he panicked, or to move his hair out of his eyes because Jasper always forgot little things like that, and Monty needed to correct them for him. They didn't know Jasper.   
"Like hell I'm not going," Monty kept repeating to himself, muttering it like a mantra, long after they had left. Jasper wasn't their friend. They needed to know that. Jasper was Monty's friend. 

When they finally returned with Jasper's bloody, bruised body, Monty's fingers had turned almost as bloodstained, sore from twisting the end of his shirt around, through, across, and around again, wrapping around his fingers until they turned purple.  
"He's alive," Clarke had said as soon as he had opened his mouth, cutting him off and pushing past him. But Monty knew that, knew that the second they came into sight. He was already long past the scars across Jasper's chest, the raw, red lines across his thin, pale wrists, the white slits that appeared all-too-familiar underneath his eyelids. 

No, something else was wrong. Terribly wrong. Monty grabbed ahold of Bellamy's sleeve, insistently pulling him back. He didn't know what was wrong until the words came out of his mouth:   
"Where's his goggles?"  
Bellamy's stared at Monty.  
"The hell if I know," he said, a bit exasperatedly. "Look, we got your little friend back, I'm not going to risk another group just to accessorize your boyfriend."  
The older boy stormed away, shaking his head.   
"We have to do everything ourselves, don't we, Jasper?" Monty muttered to himself. "Let's go get your stupid goggles."

He was about five feet from camp when someone spotted him.   
"You know, I'm pretty sure leaving camp can be hazardous to your health," a voice behind him spoke lazily. Monty whirled around to see one of Bellamy's recruits, a boy twirling a roughly constructed knife in his hand, leaning against a tree.   
"Oh?" Monty said calmly, raising an eyebrow.  
The boy straightened up, staring down distastefully at Monty.   
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing . I heard you talking to Bellamy. So, Goggle Boy's lost his goggles?"   
"What do you care?' Monty said quickly.   
The boy shrugged. "I'm bored. Do I need another reason?"  
Monty rolled his eyes, trudging past the boy. Suddenly, he heard a low chuckle behind him. He stopped, not turning around. "What?" He snapped.  
"You realize you have no idea where you're going, right?" The boy said, his smirk practically oozing into his words. Monty sighed, giving in and turning around.   
"And I suppose you could remedy that?"  
"As I said, bored. Murphy's the name."  
"Monty Green."   
Neither of them offered a hand to shake. Murphy nodded his head towards the sound of the river.  
"Well then, let's get going."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo! Finally updating...I forgot that I left this in such a bad spot, hope this gives a little more closure- might add an actually resolving chapter soon!

"So, what are you two, boyfriends?" Murphy said casually, looking back at Monty walking behind him.  
Monty glared at him. "No."  
Murphy shrugged. "I'm not judging. I know there was a lot of shit on the ark about it, but not here."  
Monty knew that better than anyone, he reflected, remembering the time Jasper had got his face bashed in for defending Monty's sexuality. He was about to repeat to Murphy that no, they weren't boyfriends, but Murphy didn't seem to be talking to him, just thinking out loud. He shrugged and let it go.  
"So, what are you in here for?" Murphy drawled, stepping over a log.  
"Drugs."  
"Cool."  
Murphy didn't expand on what he was in for, and honestly, Monty felt that the less he knew, the better.   
Murphy suddenly pointed forward. "See? The river. Told you I could find it."  
"I never said you couldn't," hissed Monty, rolling his eyes. Nevertheless, he was grateful for Murphy's help. "Thanks," he said grudgingly.  
"The guy with the stupid hair said to go this way," Murphy said, jerking his thumb to the left. "Your goggles should be somewhere along here. You gonna tell me what's so special about them?"  
"I gave them to Jasper," Monty said simply.  
"That's bullshit. Come on, I came out all this way-"  
"You said you were bored!"  
"-so you have, like, an obligation to tell me. Or I'll leave."  
Monty scowled. "You're bored," he repeated. "Just help me find the fucking goggles."  
Murphy raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Sorry I asked."  
Monty stomped past the taller boy, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and scanning the ground. 

Somehow, despite all of Monty's desperate searching, it was Murphy who found the goggles.   
"Here! These things, right?"  
Monty whirled around to see Murphy dangling the goggles by their strap.  
"That's them," he sighed, relieved, holding out his hand for them. But Murphy pulled them back.  
"Nuh-uh. I found them, and I'm gonna keep them unless you tell me what's so special about them."  
"I said give them back!" Monty swiped at them, but Murphy just lifted the goggles above his head. Monty narrowed his eyes, and then kicked Murphy in the shins, hard.  
"Ow!" Murphy dropped the goggles in surprise, letting them fall right into Monty's hands.  
"That was rude," Murphy said sarcastically.  
Monty rolled his eyes. "Walk it off."  
Murphy continued prying all the way back.  
"Come on, you wouldn't have found them without me."  
"No."  
"What's the big deal?"  
"None of your business."  
"Do they shoot lasers?"  
"No!"  
"They definitely shoot lasers."  
"Whatever, Murphy."  
"Does Goggle Boy ski recreationally?"  
"If I tell you, will you shut up?"  
"Maybe."  
Monty mulled it over. "Fine."  
He paused, chewing his lip. "They're prescription glasses."  
To his surprise, Murphy laughed out loud. "Really? That's all? Dude, it isn't the ark anymore. I can't, like, kill you for wanting your friend to be able to see."  
Monty blinked. "Yeah, I guess not. I don't know...I guess I've always been worried someone would take them away if they knew."  
"I've got 20/20 vision. Anyways, I thought stealing stuff was illegal on the ark. That's how Miller got in here."  
"Well, that rule was sort of overlooked when it came to me and Jasper."  
"Still sore about them taking your drugs?" Murphy smirked.  
Monty narrowed his eyes. He wanted to tell Murphy about Jasper's stolen lunch tickets, about the time Jasper was freaking kidnapped and shoved under the floor by a couple of bullies labeled "pranksters", the time he had kissed Jasper in the bathroom and then watched Jasper being beat up by a group of boys that walked in again, leaving the subject to be never mentioned again. It was always Jasper they hated more- Monty was quiet while Jasper was clumsy and loud and accidentally spilled chemicals on clothing and tripped over people's feet. 

But he had already told Murphy what the goggles were. That was enough for a stranger to know, no matter how helpful and strangely friendly that stranger was.

A few days later, Murphy wanted to kill Jasper and Monty realized Murphy hadn't been lying. He really had just been bored. He didn't really care about Jasper or Monty- why should he?

But Monty still wondered.

Jasper looked better, even half dead, with his goggles by his side.


End file.
